PGi Launches New iPad, Desktop Apps for GlobalMeet 3.0

Host-enabled iPad app has the ability to drag-and-drop files into a meeting from the desktop.

Atlanta-based Premiere Global Services, which has been serving up remote audio and video meetings for enterprises for two decades, on May 30 launched a new version of its GlobalMeet audio and Web conferencing software that includes an iPad app.

PGi's cloud-based services deliver multi-point, real-time virtual collaboration using video, voice and file-sharing IT. Apps are available for desktops, tablets or mobile devices, the company said.

The company competes in a crowded sector of IT that includes Cisco Systems (Webex), Adobe (Connect), Citrix (GoToMeeting) and numerous others.
The new GlobalMeet 3.0 release includes the following new features:

A new iPad app that lets users host mobile meetings with all the controls of a Web meeting from the desktop, including sharing files; it will available soon in the Apple App Store;

A new desktop application to start and schedule meetings with a single click, monitor meeting activity and even drag-and-drop files into a meeting directly from the desktop;

An integrated "softphone" that allows users to talk via their computer;

An enhanced cloud-based content library that lets users access and manage files, presentations and recordings directly from their meeting, even while traveling.

"PGi designed GlobalMeet to be the easiest to use audio and Web conferencing solution on the market, with no software downloads for meeting guests and convenient desktop and mobile applications that let users collaborate instantly wherever they are, from any device," said Boland T. Jones, PGi founder, chairman and CEO. "We believe the GlobalMeet upgrades and feature enhancements in this powerful new release make it simpler than ever for businesses to meet online."
PGi has a global presence in 25 countries and an established base of more than 35,000 enterprise customers, including 75 percent of the Fortune 100. In the last five years, the company said it has hosted more than 725 million people from 137 countries in over 65 million meetings.
The company offers GlobalMeet on a free trial basis for 30 days.

Chris Preimesberger was named Editor-in-Chief of Features & Analysis at eWEEK in November 2011. Previously he served eWEEK as Senior Writer, covering a range of IT sectors that include data center systems, cloud computing, storage, virtualization, green IT, e-discovery and IT governance. His blog, Storage Station, is considered a go-to information source. Chris won a national Folio Award for magazine writing in November 2011 for a cover story on Salesforce.com and CEO-founder Marc Benioff, and he has served as a judge for the SIIA Codie Awards since 2005. In previous IT journalism, Chris was a founding editor of both IT Manager's Journal and DevX.com and was managing editor of Software Development magazine. His diverse resume also includes: sportswriter for the Los Angeles Daily News, covering NCAA and NBA basketball, television critic for the Palo Alto Times Tribune, and Sports Information Director at Stanford University. He has served as a correspondent for The Associated Press, covering Stanford and NCAA tournament basketball, since 1983. He has covered a number of major events, including the 1984 Democratic National Convention, a Presidential press conference at the White House in 1993, the Emmy Awards (three times), two Rose Bowls, the Fiesta Bowl, several NCAA men's and women's basketball tournaments, a Formula One Grand Prix auto race, a heavyweight boxing championship bout (Ali vs. Spinks, 1978), and the 1985 Super Bowl. A 1975 graduate of Pepperdine University in Malibu, Calif., Chris has won more than a dozen regional and national awards for his work. He and his wife, Rebecca, have four children and reside in Redwood City, Calif.Follow on Twitter: editingwhiz